The most bewitching

Irène Jacob as Valentine

Maria Schell as Grushenka

Ingrid Bergman as Ivy

Gregory Peck as Atticus

Greta Garbo as Grusinskaya

Amala Paul as Shalini

Friday, December 19, 2014

Ugly (2013)

Anurag Kashyap's Ugly is actually an ugly film in itself: sordid life of big, chaotic Indian city, none of the characters that invite even remotely any sympathy, a plot with several loose ends and a very predictable end. The latter two aspects especially hamper a film that claims to be a thriller. However, even more than that, it is the inability of the viewer to connect with any character at all that makes the film an unbearable watch. Films have been always made that have had nothing but characters of dark shades: yet when a character is built well, the audience can relate to it, for in many of us also lie darknesses. However, Ugly does not go into any understanding of its characters: it goes more for style over substance, for the manifestations of sick minds rather than clues to their depravities. A poor storyline and poor editing do not help matters.

Ronit Roy has become the standard abusive figure in Hindi films these days: I thought those days of Hindi cinema were over when you had to watch Aruna Irani or Tun Tun playing the same role over and over again in different films. How can a director take an audience for a ride like this? And, as in 2 States, do not expect much of explanation for Roy's fury: it's just that the character is in vogue and pretends to give the film a psychological depth when in fact the film lacks any substance whatsoever. The plot has huge holes, all left unexplained: why would the police drop shadowing the toy seller woman completely even if Roy was busy with his personal enmity, and more importantly how come they just converge suddenly upon the toy seller woman when the film demands it? Why would Roy not implant a tracking device onto Rahul (and on his body) just silently: why let him know? The police commissioner (Roy) seems to have become one just because he can beat the pulp out of people when the whim takes him: he does not seem to have any smart style of working. And what are appendages like the female assistant to Roy: is she a technical expert working with the police department or a woman constable or a Karamchand Kitty?

The film revels in sickness, just as Kashyap's Gulaal did: it is as if that in the garb of realism you are showing endless stretches of people vomiting and nothing else. Ugly is a film for those who like sick films (plenty of the variety will be found in Hollywood and Spanish cinem) or for those who like to watch squalid Indian cities on big screen and take pleasure in it: but even for these two generalised categories, the gaping plot holes might be too much to handle.

Lol. This is a bad review. I can understand someone not liking this film. And everyone is entitled to their opinion. But to completely bash it and not give any points to the performances, the camera angles, editing and the narrative is plain childish criticism. The film is riveting thriller with a completely unpredictable end. It has its share of plot holes but definitely not as bad as this reviwer makes it sound. Wont be coming back to this blog to read any more reviews. Cheers.

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What they mean:

Films to die for: They were made, and they reaffirm, quite simply speaking, my belief in the power a human is possessed of. One could say life is worth it for them.

The best ... films/Finest performances: These are simply films/performances I think worth mentions, not necessarily my favorites or my likes (just as I do not consider some of my favorites to be good films per se). To take an example, I personally liked Titanic but I consider it to be an ordinary film; I did not like The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance but I consider it to be a fine film. Of course, that selection in itself would only reflect my viewing preferences and beyond that, once again what I consider as fine or not, thus once again me; even the finest horror ever presented would be difficult to find in those lists.